First-ever community film festival comes to Leiston

• Leiston Community Film Festival screened a selection of films celebrating the Leiston community
• Festival created by Leiston Film Theatre, Sizewell Creative, and Silverfish Films
• Event also featured first exhibition from Sizewell Creative Camera Club

A local fisherman, Sizewell beach swimmers, and Sizewell C apprentices were among the unique local stories celebrated in a new community film festival in Leiston this week.

Following a red-carpet reception, the first-ever Leiston Community Film Festival featured seven short films about people and places in the town, including a short film written and directed by students at local secondary school, Alde Valley Academy.

The new festival was staged and delivered by Leiston Film Theatre, Suffolk’s oldest purpose-built cinema, in partnership with Sizewell Creative, the community creative arts programme from Sizewell C, and multi-award winning film company, Silverfish Films.

Wayne Burns, who last year celebrated thirty years as manager of Leiston Film Theatre, and who features in one of the films, said: “This brilliant event provided an opportunity to showcase the Film Theatre, as the truly versatile venue it is, and it was wonderful to bring the various local stars from our community to the big screen.

“There was such a positive atmosphere of pride for all the participants of the films featured and we were thrilled to host such a terrific evening.”

As well as a cinematic celebration of the people of Leiston, the festival also featured a performance by the Sizewell C choir and the first photography exhibition from Sizewell Creative Camera Club. Funded by Sizewell C, local professional photographer Tony Pick has been delivering free photography workshops for the community through the Camera Club – with photography from the workshops on display across the cinema.

Julia Pyke, Joint Managing Director of Sizewell C, said: “For all of us at Sizewell C, it’s really important that we make community, not only within our project, but with the community in which we’re based. This first community festival in our host town was another fantastic way to do that.

“Each of these brilliant films told a different story about the richness and the vibrancy of this town. It was a lovely celebration of Leiston and its people, at our truly historic local cinema.”

Twelve students from Alde Valley Academy spent four weeks learning how to make a film for their submission – with the final product being a short film about their lives.

Emmanuel Griffiths, Year 9 student, and one of the Alde Valley Academy filmmakers, said: “Everything was good about making this film! It was a rollercoaster of emotions – and a great way to work together with other people, see how they do things. I would 100% want to make more films like this.”

The festival follows previous events and initiatives from Sizewell Creative, which supports local communities through the creative arts. Last year, the programme staged its first stage production: two sell-out performances of Benjamin Britten’s ‘Noye’s Fludde’ at Thorington Theatre near Southwold, which brought together local communities, schools, and the Sizewell C team, alongside top talent from the world of the arts.